DEPARTMENT: Economic Development
DEPARTMENT HEAD: Alejandra Lopez
COUNCIL DISTRICTS IMPACTED: City-wide
SUBJECT:
A briefing and possible action on the San Antonio Economic Development Foundation 2021 Services Agreement and Business Plan.
SUMMARY:
This is a briefing by the San Antonio Economic Development Foundation (SAEDF) and City of San Antonio Economic Development Department (EDD) on a proposed Services Agreement and SAEDF’s Business Plan for 2021.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
Since 2010, City has partnered with SAEDF for San Antonio’s economic and workforce development initiatives. SAEDF is a private, non-profit organization that assists businesses relocating or expanding into the San Antonio area and is a respected leader in the highly-competitive industry of corporate recruitment, whose services include direct marketing, site selection, market research assistance, and other economic development activities.
In 2017, SAEDF, in collaboration with EDD and additional economic development partners, implemented Forefront SA an overall strategy for economic growth and development in San Antonio for 2017 to 2020. In the final Forefront SA report, SAEDF indicated its efforts led to the creation of 17,609 jobs (including 11,974 target industry jobs and 7,395 high-wage jobs) and a total capital investment of $2.2 billion in the San Antonio area. The efforts surpassed the BRE target with 427 assists.
As a result of the completion of Forefront SA, a new Regional Economic Development Strategy was developed. Over the course of an eight-month process from June 2019 to January 2020, the business community and various economic development partners convened to evaluate the region’s competitiveness and define necessary proactive investments supporting our region’s economic development competitiveness. During the process, SAEDF gathered regional & stakeholder input, completed regional and target sector assessments, benchmarked the region’s competitiveness relative to ten competing regions, and developed a new Regional Economic Development Strategy. The Strategy includes three pillars supporting the region’s economic competitiveness: Jobs, People, and Place.
ISSUE:
Staff is seeking Council’s approval to enter into a new agreement with SAEDF with the strategic framework of growing jobs, building people, and improving place. As part of these three pillars, there are ten initiatives with activities outlined to meet the goals and outcomes as indicated in the operations plan.
Jobs: The efforts on jobs will include targeted outreach in corporate recruitment, global development, cluster and military development and business retention & expansion.
People: Activities focused on people will include career pathway and graduation retention programs.
Place: The focus on place will include a regional centers plan, support for the airport master plan and developing a regional brand.
Under the new agreement and business plan, SAEDF will continue to focus on industry-led initiatives in aerospace, financial services, cybersecurity/technology, bioscience, and advanced manufacturing. Additionally, part of the City’s funding will sponsor memberships for small businesses owned by women and people of color with the goal of increasing the diversity of SAEDF’s members and empowering the whole community to have a voice on city and region focused business recruitment, retention and expansion efforts.
Finally, as part of the annual business plan, key performance indicators and goals have been developed for these three pillars to measure the impact of SAEDF’s activities on San Antonio and the region. SAEDF has developed goals specifically for the City of San Antonio to measure the impact of San Antonio specific activities.
ALTERNATIVES:
This item is for briefing purposes only.
FISCAL IMPACT:
Should the Committee approve this item for full City Council consideration, the fiscal agreement is $635,000 per year. Funding in the amount of $635,000 is available for this contract, of which $500,000 is available from the FY 2021 Economic Development Incentive Funds and $135,000 is available in the FY 2021 General Fund Budget. Funding for subsequent years of this contract is subject to City Council approval of the annual budget and funds.
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends approval of the SAEDF Services Agreement and Business Plan by the Economic and Workforce Development Committee and to advance this item for full City Council consideration.